Cabinet Office

State of the Estate in 2021-22

Alex Burghart: I have today laid before Parliament, pursuant to Section 86 of the Climate Change Act 2008, the “State of the Estate in 2021-22”. This report describes the progress made on the efficiency and sustainability of the central government estate and, where relevant, records the progress that Government has made since the previous year. The report is published on an annual basis.”

Home Office

Update on the Government’s response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Suella Braverman: I wish to inform the House that the Government will now be publishing its response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (the Inquiry) in May 2023. This is a slight delay to the Inquiry’s request that we respond by 20th April 2023. The Inquiry published its final report on 20th October 2022 following seven years of investigation into the failings of institutions across the country to properly safeguard and protect children in their care from this most horrific crime. The final report heard from over 7,300 victims and survivors, and provided shocking insights into the abuse suffered by children, and draws out stark failings by institutions, leaders, and professionals to protect them from harm. I am absolutely clear that we must address the failings identified by the Inquiry and continue to work right across all sectors to each play our part in doing all that we can to protect children, provide support to victims and survivors, and pursue vile offenders and bring them to justice as quickly as possible. I appreciate that it is conventional that the Government responds to statutory inquiries within six months of their final recommendations. However, over the course of the next month, there will be local elections – in the run-up to which Government is bound by pre-election guidance – and other events which will attract significant media interest. I am determined that these events should not detract from the interest and attention rightly due to the Inquiry’s final recommendations, hence the decision to publish in May. I have already shown my commitment to consult on the introduction of a new Mandatory Reporting duty across the whole of England – a central recommendation in the Inquiry’s final report. If introduced, it would mean that individuals who work with children are legally required to report child sexual abuse, or face sanctions. We need to address the under-reporting of this crime across the whole system to robustly tackle it. I cannot thank the victims and survivors that have come forward to share their experiences with the Inquiry enough: I commend their bravery and courage in sharing your experiences and calling for change. I am determined to deliver justice for victims and survivors and ensure that the failures which allowed these appalling crimes to happen can never take place again. We are committed to continuing to work to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse regardless of whether it takes place here or overseas, and it is crucial that we seize this moment to reignite national conversation about this horrific crime and bring it out of the shadows and support those who have suffered or are suffering to be able to tell their stories and report what has happened. I will keep the House updated when we publish the Government’s response in May.

Independent Office for Police Conduct Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22

Chris Philp: I am today publishing the annual report and accounts of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The report has been laid before the House and copies will be available in the Vote Office.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Building Safety Update

Michael Gove: This Government is transforming the built environment through a culture of safety and high standards. The Building Safety Act 2022 brought into law far-reaching reforms that give residents and homeowners more rights, powers and protections across the country.We recognise the historic failings in the system by which construction products were tested, assured and made available for sale. We have seen the tragic evidence of that all too clearly. To consider those failings in more detail, we commissioned an Independent Review of Construction Product Testing from Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day KC, which has been published today.I would like to thank the reviewers for the comprehensive and thorough assessment of the current system and for their report and recommendations. We recognise that more needs to be done and are carefully considering the recommendations put forward by the independent reviewers.The Government is committed to ensuring the testing regime for construction products is effective and inspires public and market confidence. It must be based on high standards and complete transparency. People must be assured that products used on their homes and other buildings are safe, and have been proved to be so; that they are used correctly and appropriately at every stage from design, installation, use, and even to disposal; and that those who manufacture and work with them are competent professionals. Those who try to misrepresent or misuse their products or mislead their customers must be sure that they will be found out and held to account.I will also consider how our regulatory regime can ensure that only responsible businesses can make and sell construction products. It is unacceptable that cladding and insulation manufacturers have neither acknowledged their part in the legacy of unsafe buildings in the United Kingdom, nor contributed to the cost of remediating buildings.To deliver the change we need, I will set out our proposals for reform of the UK’s construction product regime in due course, building on the work of this review. Nothing is off the table as we consider this new regime, and I welcome contributions from all who share our goal of a safer built environment.A copy of the Independent Review will be deposited in the House Libraries.

Department for Education

Safeguarding Update

Claire Coutinho: The child safeguarding practice review panel (‘the Panel’) today published phase two of its national review into safeguarding children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings. I want to thank the Panel for their vital work on this review which has focussed our attention on this particularly vulnerable group of children and brings to prominence their distinct needs. I am grateful too, that the review highlights the importance of care provision being respectful and non-discriminatory. All children with disabilities and complex health needs deserve the best support, protection, and care from all those who are charged with looking after them. I was appalled to hear of the abuse and failings in three dual-registered children’s homes and residential special schools in Doncaster, owned by the Hesley Group. Due to the ongoing live criminal investigation, I am unable to comment on the specifics of the case, but my thoughts are with the children and their families who suffered abuse and neglect in settings where they should have been safe and cared for. I, and the department’s officials, take the welfare of these children incredibly seriously and we have taken swift action to improve children’s safety in response to phase one of the review. Most importantly we have now received assurance that all local authorities have reviewed the safety and welfare of all children placed in specialist residential provision. This is an area where we all need to remain vigilant given the inherent risks in the nature of residential provision which the report identified. In January, my Right Honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Education met with providers of residential special schools and children’s homes to consider the changes needed to ensure that disabled children with complex health needs are kept safe. We have also been working with stakeholders including the LADO Network, Ofsted, Home Office and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) to review the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the officer responsible for managing allegations against adults who work with children. Our comprehensive reform programmes to transform children’s social care and the experiences for children and young people with SEND, lay the foundation for improving outcomes for this group of vulnerable children. As we consider the review’s phase two recommendations, we will continue to engage with providers to tackle the issues that the review highlights. We are working closely with the sector and with care experienced young people to review the current regulatory system governing the care of children who are looked after. In Stable Homes, Built on Love we committed to developing plans for a financial oversight regime of the largest providers of children’s homes and Independent Fostering Agencies, and we are working with regulatory bodies to understand what more is needed to strengthen their inspection and regulatory powers to hold providers of children’s homes to account. We agree with the Panel that safe, sufficient and appropriate provision is needed for all children with disabilities and complex health needs. That is why, in the SEND and Alternative Provision improvement plan, we have committed to introducing local SEND and alternative provision partnerships. These will bring together partners across education, health and care to set out the provision and services that should be commissioned, in line with the National SEND and Alternative Provision Standards. We plan to publish non-statutory guidance outlining expectations for local partnerships and will seek to introduce primary legislation at the next available opportunity to put these partnerships on a statutory footing. In addition to this, in Stable Homes, Built on Love we described our vision for Regional Care Co-operatives to promote better collaboration between children’s social care and partners in the commissioning and delivery of homes for looked after children. We are investing in two pathfinders to co-design and test the model, and will work with the pathfinders to include measures to improve commissioning for children with disabilities and complex health needs, as recommended by the National Panel. We value the Childrens Social Care Workforce and we agree with the review findings that highlight the importance of a stable and skilled workforce in children’s homes and residential special schools. We have already committed in Stable Homes, Built on Love to develop a programme to support improvements in the quality of leadership and management in the children’s homes sector and will be exploring proposals for introducing professional registration of the residential childcare workforce. We recently launched a workforce census which included residential special schools and covers recruitment, retention, diversity and qualifications and training of the workforce. Most significantly, our reforms prioritise compassion at the heart of the care system to create stable, loving homes. We need to ensure that children with disability and complex health needs are fulfilling their potential and have committed to track the experiences of children with a disability through the care system. We will establish pathfinders in up to 12 local areas, to start delivering our Family Help reforms. This will provide the right support at the right time so that children can grow up safely and thrive with their families. We will incorporate a strong focus on specific support for disabled children and their families in our Pathfinder testing. Listening to the voice of all children is important and is particularly significant for disabled children. This year we will consult on revisions to the National Standards for Advocacy and Guidance for children and young people. These draft standards apply to children in receipt of social care services, residential settings (including those in Residential Special Schools) and secure settings. The draft standards have been strengthened and will include a new standard on ‘non-instructed advocacy’ for children and young people unable to instruct an advocate for themselves, to enable children and young people to communicate their views in ways that work for them. Additionally, we have set out in Stable Homes, Built on Love, our commitment to work with the sector to develop a model of opt-out advocacy for all children in care that will empower and listen to children and young people. I am grateful for this review and the recommendations that it makes to improve the system for a cohort of children who are often overlooked. As we consider the review recommendations in more detail, we will work closely across Government and with partners to reflect on the requirements of children with disabilities and complex health needs, recognising the importance of non-discriminatory care for children and families. There is more that can be done to support and protect these children and we intend to focus our existing reform programme to ensure that they consistently receive the care and support that they need and deserve, enabling them to thrive and fulfil their potential.